A Free Buffet To Beat Whole Foods

Nyerges, who has been teaching for more than 30 years, says that it isn’t uncommon for hard-core survivalists to take his class, as well as people with end-of-the-world-related fears. “There have been individuals who have been seriously upset about things over the years. During Y2K they were petrified; now I get a lot of that with the 2012 baloney,” he says, referring to what some believe is the Mayan calendar’s end date.

“I tell people that society is not going to change, only the individual can change and that’s the source of calm that comes from true self-reliance,” he continues. “I’m convinced I will never go hungry, I’ll never be homeless, I’ll never be broke.

“More and more I’m dealing with average people who are worried about the nutritional content of their food and what to do if there is a supermarket strike or an earthquake,” Nyerges adds.

Soon the group passes through a field of slender mustard plants. They wave knee-high in the breeze, their dainty yellow flowers shining in the just-emerging sunlight. “Taste the flowers,” Nyerges urges. They are full of heat and spice. “You can eat the leaves too,” he adds as a man holding a book by Nyerges titled “Guide to Wild Foods and Useful Plants” scribbles furiously in its margins…